Wimbledon Facts & Figures - Do you know these facts about Wimbledon?

Here are some facts about the Wimbledon Championship. Wimbledon is the oldest grand slam in tennis, dating back to 1877, and it boasts a rich and varied history. If you are a tennis fan, this collection of facts and figures will hold great importance for you. Read on to explore these interesting facts of Wimbledon Tennis Championship.

Wimbledon Facts and Figures

These are some interesting and curious facts you may not have known about the event.

The first Wimbledon took place in 1877 solely as an amateur competition. Men’s singles was the only event that took place. There were 22 competitors and the championship was won by Spencer Gore. A few hundred spectators were in attendance.

Women’s singles and men’s doubles events began seven years later, in 1884.

May Sutton of USA became the first non-European champion in 1905 when she captured the women’s singles title.

Charlotte (Lottie) Dod became the youngest player ever to win a Wimbledon singles event when, in 1887, she won at the age of 15 years, 285 days. In 1996 Martina Hingis became a Wimbledon doubles champion at 15 years, 282 days. Dod was also a silver medalist in archery at the 1908 Olympics, a member of the British national field hockey team in 1899, and the British Amateur golf champ in 1904.

Every competitor at Wimbledon must adhere to an all-white dress code giving the impression of simplicity and cleanliness and perfection in tennis. Back in 1930, Brame Hillyard became the first man to play wearing shorts and years later almost ever player was doing it.

During World War II, a bomb ripped through Centre Court at the All England Club and 1,200 seats were lost. Fortunately, they weren’t filled at the time. Play finally resumed in 1946 but it wasn’t until 1949 that the area was back in top shape.

American Althea Gibson became the first black player to win a Wimbledon singles championship when she captured the title in 1957. She successfully defended her title a year later. She was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in both years.

In 1985, Boris Becker accomplished three feats: he became the youngest male singles champ (17 years, 227 days old), the first German champ, and the first unseeded champ.

There are currently 20 grass courts available for play at the Wimbledon complex. The Number 1 Court now comes complete with large fans at either end to dry out the court in case of rain. There are also five red shale courts, four clay courts, and five indoor courts for club members.

The last married woman to win the women’s singles championship was Chris Evert Lloyd in 1981.

A wooden racket was last used at Wimbledon in 1987.

The 2011 prize for the men’s and women’s singles winners is £1,100,000, £100,000 more than last year. The men’s singles winner receives £575,000, while the women’s winner gets £535,000. In 1968, the year of the first "open" championships, the prize money was £2,000 and £750, respectively. In 2007 for the first time at Wimbledon women received the same prize money as the men.

Aside from cash, the women’s champ also receives a silver gilt salver (a round, disk-like platter) that was made in 1864. The men’s winner receives a silver gilt cup from 1887. Both are actually displayed at the Wimbledon museum for most of the year.

Tennis has grown into one of the major professional sports of the modern era. Although we invented a game called Real Tennis, the type of tennis we play today originated in France. Today there are hundreds of tournaments every year including the four major Grand Slam Tournaments of which Wimbledon is one.

Over 300 pupils from local schools compete annually for the prestige of being one of the 200 ball boys at The Championships. Ball boys were drawn solely from local schools from 1967 and 1977, respectively.

From 1977 Girls made their first appearance.

There are more than 200 ball boys and ball girls used to fetch tennis balls during Wimbledon.

New balls are supplied after every 7 to 9 games. 1,250 dozen balls are used during the tournament!

The first Wimbledon took place in 1877 solely as an amateur competition.

Men’s singles was the only event that took place. There were 22 competitors and the championship was won by Spencer Gore. A few hundred spectators were in attendance.

Women’s singles and men’s doubles events began seven years later, in 1884.

May Sutton of the United States became the first non-European champion in 1905 when she captured the women’s singles title.

During World War II, a bomb ripped through Centre Court at the All England Club and 1,200 seats were lost. Fortunately, they weren’t filled at the time. Play finally resumed in 1946 but it wasn’t until 1949 that the area was back in top shape.

American Althea Gibson became the first black player to win a Wimbledon singles championship when she captured the title in 1957. She successfully defended her title a year later. She was named Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year in both years.

There are currently 20 grass courts available for play at the Wimbledon complex. The Number 1 Court now comes complete with large fans at either end to dry out the court in case of rain. There are also five red shale courts, four clay courts, and five indoor courts for club members.

A wooden racket was last used at Wimbledon in 1987.

1977 is the year when Ball Girls were first introduced.

1980 saw the first mixed teams of Ball Boys and Girls.

In 1986, the last hurdle Ball Girls seen on Centre Court for the first time.

Tim Henman became the first player in the entire history of the tournament to be disqualified in 1995 after losing his tempter and hitting a ball in anger into the face of a young ball girl. He gave her some flowers and even licked her face to say sorry after the event!

The country that has provided the most singles title winner in the entire history of Wimbledon is the United States. USA players managed to win 33 men’s titles and 50 women’s titles. Britain is second with British players winning 32 men’s titles and 29 ladies titles.

Chairs were provided for the first time for players to rest when changing ends in 1975.

An electronic service-line monitor later known as ’Cyclops’ was introduced in 1980.

Aorangi Park was completed for the 1997 championships, where hundreds of spectators have since watched the action unfold on the giant TV screen, picnicking on what has now become known as ’Henman Hill’ after the British number one.

Only eight left-handed players, six men and two women, have ever won a Wimbledon singles title - the most recent being Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.

Last year, at the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, the longest match in tennis history took place between John Isner and Nicolas Mahut with Isner beating Mahut after 11 hours and 5 minutes of play over three days for a total of 183 games. The final set of the game lasted 8 hours and 11 minutes with both players breaking several Wimbledon and tennis records. In a twist of fate, both men are scheduled to face each other again in the first round of this year’s edition.

Wimbledon Catering Facts

About 1,600 FMC catering staff are required to operate the catering outlets during The Championships and the quantity of food and drink served by them during the fortnight is enormous:

300,000 cups of tea and coffee

250,000 bottles of water

190,000 sandwiches

150,000 bath buns, scones, pasties and doughnuts

150,000 glasses of Pimm’s

135,000 ice creams

130,000 lunches are served

100,000 pints of drought beer and lager

60,000 Dutchees

30,000 meals for FMC’s own staff.

30,000 portions of fish and chips

30,000 litres of milk

28,000 kilos of English strawberries

23,000 bananas

22,000 slices of pizza

17,000 bottles of champagne

7,000 litres of dairy cream

Wimbledon is synonymous with strawberries. The price of the traditional strawberries and cream has changed little over the last ten years, with a portion (minimum of 10 strawberries) fluctuating between £1.60 and £2.00. To ensure the utmost freshness, the Grade 1 strawberries from LEAF-registered farms in Kent, are picked the day before and arrive at Wimbledon at 5.30a.m prior to being inspected and hulled.

Last year, FMC served 23 tonnes of strawberries, which amounts to over 2 million individual berries. When laid end-to-end, these berries would stretch almost 60km (37 miles), i.e. from Wimbledon to Reading. Strawberries like growing in relatively hardy conditions. They are mostly found in the wild in woodlands, adjacent to seashores or in rock screes at cool altitudes. They have adapted to a wide range of climates and can grow from northerly latitudes like Sweden to the middle of Africa. Each seed is genetically different from its neighbour. It takes approximately thirty days from being a flower to become a ripe fruit.